Move to end civil commitments at MCI

Saturday

May 24, 2014 at 12:01 AMMay 24, 2014 at 8:23 PM

By Scott O'ConnellDaily News Staff

The long battle to end the state's practice of sending drug addicts to MCI-Framingham scored a major victory this week, after the Senate passed a budget amendment banning civil commitments at the state's only women's prison.But it may not be the victory advocates had been hoping for.Unlike a couple of bills filed by local lawmakers last year, the measure doesn't completely prohibit what are known as "Section 35s," a procedure that allows for substance abusers to be temporarily kept at a state correctional facility even when they haven't committed a crime. The amendment allows for several scenarios where women and men struggling with addiction could still be sent to prison, including if they have a history of violence toward treatment staff and patients or fleeing from treatment centers.The revision also would allow a civil commitment to MCI-Framingham or, in the case of men, to the state's Bridgewater correctional facility, if the individual "exhibits an imminent risk of severe, life-threatening withdrawal symptoms or a co-occurring medical or mental health condition that preclude safe detoxification in a less intensive setting."State Sen. Karen Spilka, the author of one of the original bills calling for a ban on civil commitments to prisons and filer of the budget bill amendment, said those exceptions were inserted at the suggestion of the Senate Ways and Means Committee."The administration did have some concerns there would be some times it would be appropriate" to send substance abusers to a correctional facility, the Ashland Democrat said. "But for the most part, civil commitments will go to treatment facilities instead," where they will receive better care and not be housed with criminally charged individuals.Over the past few years, the number of Section 35s at MCI-Framingham has hovered around 200, although the number spiked to 359 in 2012 and 303 last year, according to the Department of Correction's records. There have been 86 though April this year.Spilka also said she believes the provisos in the amendment "are pretty limiting," and should be understood as such by medical professionals.But some proponents for changing the state's civil commitment laws aren't convinced. Robert Fleischner, a lawyer at the Center for Public Representation in Northampton, said the state Department of Public Health's main treatment center for female substance abusers in New Bedford "can handle virtually anyone.""It's not clear why (the amendment) needs to have those exceptions," he said.Erika Kates, a research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College, said the overall amendment doesn't seem "much different at all from what we have now, which is very problematic."She also pointed out none of the measure's stipulations refer to any kind of criminal history, which would still leave the dilemma of housing someone facing no actual criminal charges at a prison."The conditions mentioned here are all mental health and substance abuse issues," she said, which are better off being dealt with at a health facility.But Flesichner said the amendment, should it stick in the upcoming conference committee that will finalize the budget, "would be a step in the right direction."Spilka said it has taken years of pushing the issue just to get to this point, and that several other measures passed this year increasing resources for addiction and mental health treatment point to a promising overall move in the state to address those issues. The Senate budget, for instance, includes funding to add more treatment beds at state treatment facilities, which would be in addition to the 280 beds the health department added already this year at its male and female treatment centers."I think in general, people are talking more and being more open about mental illness and addiction," Spilka said, adding lawmakers have channeled that interest into a "more holistic approach" to the problems. "We've come so far over the last few decades. We have a ways to go, but I think the critical mass is really building."Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW